European Stocks Settle Sharply Lower As Growth Worries Weigh

(RTTNews) - European stocks closed sharply lower on Friday, extending recent losses, amid rising concerns about growth, soaring inflation and rising interest rates.

Lingering concerns about the impact of the Covid lockdown in China, the ongoing war in Ukraine and stringent sanctions against Russia, including an embargo on Russian oil, all contributed as well to the bearish sentiment in the markets.

The pan European Stoxx 600 tumbled 1.91%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed 1.54%, Germany's DAX slid 1.64% and France's CAC 40 fell 1.73%, while Switzerland's SMI lost 1.24%.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkey closed with sharp to moderate losses.

Portugal edged higher, while Poland closed flat.

In the UK market, IAG plunged more than 8% after reporting an operating loss of 787 million euro in the first quarter of 2022.

RightMove tumbled 7.6%. Segro, Aveva Group, Auto Trader Group, Croda International, RS Group, B&M European Value Retail, Intertek Group, Ashtead Group, Hargreaves Lansdown, Ferguson, Halma and Diageo lost 4 to 7%.

Prudential, WPP, Barratt Developments, 3I Group, BT Group, Ocado Group, Experian and Dechra Pharmaceuticals also ended sharply lower.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals rallied nearly 3% and BP gained 1.85%, while Avast, Endeavour Mining, Mondi, Admiral Group and Fresnillo gained 1 to 1.5%.

In the French market, AXA ended nearly 8% down. Pernod Ricard, Dassault Systemes, Publicis Groupe, L'Oreal, Teleperformance, Veolia, Hermes International, CapGemini, Legrand and Sanofi lost 2 to 5%.

Faurecia, Valeo and Renault moved up 2 to 3%. Societe Generale, Danone and WorldLine posted modest gains.

In Germany, Zalando, Vonovia, Deutsche Wohnen, SAP, Siemens Healthineers, Merck, Fresenius, Symrise and Deutsche Post lost 2 to 5%.

Adidas ended nearly 4% down after a warning that its operating profit this year would be lower than previously expected.

Henkel climbed more than 3%. Continental and BMW also closed with strong gains.

In economic news, data released by Destatis showed German industrial output slumped 3.9% month-on-month in March, much bigger than the economists' forecast of -1% and reversing February's revised 0.1% rise. Year-on-year, industrial production logged a decline of 3.5% after rising 3.1% in February.

UK house prices increased for the tenth consecutive month in April, marking the longest streak of growth since the end of 2016, survey data from the Llyods Bank subsidiary Halifax showed.

House prices gained 1.1% month-on-month in April, slower than the 1.5% increase seen in March. The monthly rate was forecast to ease to 0.7%. Average property price reached another new record high of GBP 286,079.

The UK construction activity logged strong growth in April but the speed of recovery lost momentum amid weak new orders, survey results from S&P Global showed. The construction Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 58.2 in April from 59.1 in March. A score above 50.0 indicates expansion.

A report from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, or SECO, showed Switzerland's unemployment rate remained unchanged in April, coming in at a seasonally adjusted 2.2%, same as seen in March. This was in line with economists' forecast.

On an unadjusted basis, the jobless rate declined marginally to 2.3% in April from 2.4% in the previous month.